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Mogadishu and Washington — Somalia, an impoverished nation in the horn of Africa, has begun celebrating 65 years of independence, though it comes amid a backdrop of division and a pivotal security transition. Independence Week is celebrated annually from June 26 to July 1 to honor the 1960 union of British Somaliland and Italian Somalia. It paved the way for a united Somalia with hopes of progress and prosperity, although they remain a dream, according to Sokor Jama, former director of Somalia’s Defense Ministry. “I believe it is not the time to celebrate,’’ Jama told VOA Somali. ‘’You can celebrate your success of gaining an independence only when you have reached your goals. Look where Somalia is at today. .... It is cursed with a division within, insecurity and poverty.” Speaking with VOA, Abdullahi Salamulah, an adviser to the office of Somalia’s parliament speaker, disagreed. “I defer to Jama on the issue of celebrating the country’s independence,” Salamumlah said. ‘’I do not see hatred among Somali people. The ordinary people are united, but yes, there are politicians here and there who are divided on issues for their own benefits, and they try to change the public narratives.” Broke away in 1991 Somaliland, a former British protectorate, broke away from Somalia in 1991 and continued its effort to be a separate country but has not been internationally recognized. The government in Mogadishu, however, wants the country’s northern territory to be part of a single Somali state. The leaders of Mogadishu and Hargeisa presented dramatically opposing views regarding Somalia’s unity during Tuesday’s celebrations. In a ceremonial event in Mogadishu preceded by songs, poems, folklore dancing and the hoisting of the national flag, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said the day stands for unity revival. “I want to repeat again and again that Independence Day is the day of revival, rebirth and reconciliation of the Somali people,” he said. "I congratulate the entire Somali nation on the occasion of June 26, which marks the 64th anniversary of the independence of the northern regions from British colonial rule and the raising of our flag on free Somali soil," Mohamud said. Regional tensions Independence Week this year comes amid regional tension between Ethiopia and Somalia over Ethiopia’s desire to set up a naval base there and a possible offer to recognize Somaliland in exchange. The move prompted a defiant response from Mogadishu, fearing the deal could further destabilize the Horn of Africa region. In February, Somalia, which has no control in Somaliland, ordered the closure of the Ethiopian consulates there and in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland. Senior officials from Somaliland and Puntland, which is engaged in another constitutional dispute with Mogadishu, said the edicts would not apply in their territories. Somalia said at the time it would defend itself if Ethiopia seals an illegal port deal. In Tuesday’s speech, Mohamud said his government understands Ethiopia’s desire for access to the sea but opposes the methods it has employed. “The issue is not a fight over Somalia rejecting a sea access for Ethiopia, but our dispute is over the means. If Ethiopia wants to get sea access in Somalia, we welcome it, but it must be similar to how Uganda and South Sudan access Kenya’s ports, how Burundi and Rwanda access Tanzania, and how Ethiopia itself has access to Djibouti,” Mohamud said. In Hargeisa, Somaliland President Muse Bihi said authorities in Mogadishu are the biggest challenge for the autonomous region’s fight for recognition as an independent state. Speaking at a ceremony held in Hargeisa Tuesday night, Bihi said Mohamud does not oppose Ethiopian access to the sea but wants Ethiopia to get signoff from Mogadishu. The Memorandum of Understanding Somaliland "signed with Ethiopia will be turned to a law and will be implemented without seeking permission from Mogadishu, whose real territorial control does not extend beyond Mogadishu,” Bihi said. Security challenges As African Transition Mission in Somalia, or ATMIS, peacekeepers continue to gradually leave Somalia by the end of 2024, Somalia still faces security challenges, with questions and concerns raised over the country’s readiness to take charge and face al-Shabab, which remains a genuine threat to the country and the region. Briefing the U.N. Security Council on the Somalia situation, ATMIS head Mohamed El-Amine Souef told ambassadors that al-Shabab remains resilient. “The group still retain[s] the ability to conduct devastating attacks, including employing asymmetric tactics and organizing complex operations on civilians and security targets,” he said. Souef said 2,000 troops will depart Somalia by the end of July, and the remaining 2,000 at the end of September, as part of the transition of security responsibility from ATMIS to the Security Forces. James Swan, head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Somalia, also told the council that the Somalia government was prioritizing security and combating al-Shabab fighters on many fronts. “For its part, al-Shabab remains determined to continue terrorist attacks with little regard for the loss of civilian life,” he said. Swan also raised his concerns over the tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia, and he urged both nations to resolve their differences peacefully.

Armored vehicles rammed the doors of Bolivia’s government palace Wednesday in an apparent coup attempt against President Luis Arce, but he vowed to stand firm and named a new army commander who ordered troops to stand down. The first debate between U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in 2024 takes place Thursday. We talk to political consultant Matt Klink of Klink campaigns about what to look for. And Croatian electric vehicle maker P3 presented its self-driving robotaxi named after Jules Verne.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

An annual U.S. government report has sounded an alarm about rising bigotry worldwide against both Jews and Muslims amid the war in Gaza. It also has found that religious freedom is under assault globally and offers rare criticism of the U.S. ally India. VOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching has more.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence and security officials are increasing their focus on the country’s southern border, worried the constant flow of migrants has attracted the attention of the Islamic State terror group. The heightened concern follows the arrests earlier this month of eight men from Tajikistan, all of whom entered the United States via its southern border with Mexico, some making the trip over a year ago. While the initial background checks came up clean, U.S. law enforcement subsequently turned up information indicating potential ties to the Islamic State group, also known as IS or ISIS. “It's not lost on us that the people who killed over 150 Russians in that theater were from the same part of the world," said Ken Wainstein, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s undersecretary for intelligence and analysis, referring to the March attack on a Moscow concert hall, claimed by the terror group’s Afghan affiliate.  Wainstein, testifying Wednesday before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, said concern about the potential for IS to exploit the border has led to daily meetings with the director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), as well as unprecedented cooperation with the FBI. But he sought to downplay concerns stemming from intelligence suggesting that the IS-linked human smuggling network may have brought more than 400 migrants from Central Asia into the U.S., across the southern border. “There is not information which suggests those particular individuals are terrorist operatives," Wainstein told lawmakers. Information on the 400 migrants, first reported by NBC News, indicates more than 150 of the migrants have been arrested. But officials told NBC that the whereabouts of more than 50 others are unknown. The newfound concerns about terror groups like IS actively trying to exploit the southern border seems to indicate a significant shift in the threat landscape. For years, U.S. counterterrorism officials have maintained there was no evidence that IS or other Sunni terror groups were trying to infiltrate the U.S. along its border with Mexico.  And this past November, NCTC Director Christine Abizaid told lawmakers that while counterterrorism officials “absolutely recognize the risk,” evidence for such plots was lacking. “We don’t have indications that are credible or corroborated,” she told members of the House of Representatives at the time. But U.S. and Turkish sanctions unveiled earlier this month may point to the Islamic State terror group’s growing interest in human smuggling. The sanctions focus on what the U.S. Treasury Department described as a Eurasian human smuggling network that was providing support for IS members in Turkey.  One of the key operatives, Olimkhon Ismailov, is based in Uzbekistan. And Ismailov had high-level help, with Treasury alleging he was given guidance by the leader of IS in the Republic of Georgia, Adam Khamirzaev. According to the U.S. State Department, Khamirzaev apparently had his sights set on the U.S.  The IS-Georgia emir “provided guidance to this network on a range of activities supporting ISIS and was aware of its efforts to facilitate travelers to the United States," the State Department said in a statement. Multiple U.S. agencies, including DHS, the FBI and the State Department declined to respond to questions about the reach of the Eurasian human smuggling network involved with IS operatives in Turkey and Uzbekistan. There are also no indications that the sanctioned network is connected to the same IS-linked network that brought the eight men from Tajikistan, or the hundreds of other Central Asian migrants, into the U.S. through the southern border. As for the eight men from Tajikistan, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters in Tucson, Arizona, Wednesday that, “They are in removal proceedings as we speak.” And other U.S. officials say they have stepped up security measures. "We have increased our vigilance at our border," said Jen Daskal, the White House deputy Homeland Security adviser, virtually addressing a counterterrorism conference Wednesday in Omaha, Nebraska. “We have enhanced our screening and vetting, instituted recurrent vetting of migrants to identify newly uncovered threats and detain those who pose a public safety threat,” she said. But Daskal admitted the threat from IS, and especially its Afghan affiliate, persists. "Both ISIS and ISIS-Khorasan, or what we call ISIS-K, have demonstrated a capability and intent to conduct external operations,” she said.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

seoul, south korea — North Korea has successfully conducted an important test aimed at developing missiles carrying multiple warheads, state media KCNA said on Thursday.   The test was carried out on Wednesday using a first-stage engine equipped with a solid-fuel based intermediate and long-range ballistic missile, it said.   The dispatch came a day after South Korea's military said that North Korea launched what appeared to be a hypersonic missile off its east coast, but it exploded in midair.   KCNA said the missile succeeded in separating warheads that were accurately guided to three preset targets.  "The purpose was to secure the capability to destroy individual targets using multiple warheads," it said.   South Korea, the United States and Japan condemned the launch as a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and a serious threat. They also warned against additional provocations in the wake of last week's summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.   During Putin's first visit to North Korea in 24 years, the two leaders signed a mutual defense pact, which Kim lauded as an alliance, but South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called it "anachronistic."  In another dispatch, North Korea's defense minister Kang Sun Nam condemned Ukraine's attack on Crimea with U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles that killed at least four people and injured 151 as an "inexcusable, heinous act against humanity."   The attack highlighted how Washington has served as a "top-class state sponsor of terrorism," he said, adding that any retaliation from Russia would make "the most justifiable defense."   The U.S. State Department said on Monday that Washington provided weapons to Ukraine so it could defend its sovereign territory, including Crimea. 

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

New York — A Congolese teenager appealed to the U.N. Security Council Wednesday to protect children in his country, where conflict between the military and armed groups in the country’s east is exacting an appalling toll on children. “I ask you all to take up the cause of defending children’s rights internationally and in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” the 16-year-old boy, whose identity was protected, told a meeting focusing on children and armed conflict through an interpreter. Last year, the United Nations verified almost 4,000 grave violations against children in the Central African nation, where armed groups have been vying for years with the military for control over the country’s vast natural resources. More than 1,800 children were recruited by armed groups last year, according to the annual U.N. report that verifies violations against children. Sixteen armed groups operating in the country were named and shamed for a range of offenses, from abducting and forcibly recruiting children, to maiming and killing them. The Congolese armed forces were listed for committing rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, but the U.N. noted they have taken formal steps aimed at preventing such abuses. More than 650 children were verified to have been killed or maimed last year, the majority by three armed groups — CODECO, the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, and M23. Thirty child casualties were attributed to the army and police. The teenager who addressed the Security Council spoke of how he was abducted, beaten and forcibly recruited by an armed group on his way to school one day with two friends. “We cried and trembled, begging them to let us go home to our families, but they wouldn’t listen,” he recounted. “That’s when they started whipping us and keeping us in the bush. We were heavily guarded, and they had orders to kill anyone who tried to flee. I had to leave school to serve this armed group by force.” His job was to steal food from farmers’ fields. “During the fighting, many [child recruits] were exposed to being killed by the enemy, and others were killed by their groups themselves, for fear they would divulge their secrets if caught by the military,” he said. After three years in the bush and losing hope of ever seeing his family again, one day he took his chance and escaped while out searching for food. Found by the army, he was taken into custody and briefly sent to a military prison. He went through demobilization rehabilitation and has now returned to school. But not all children are as fortunate. “Girls were also abducted,” he said. “Some became wives of the chiefs, while others were taken by other soldiers.” Spiraling sexual violence The United Nations report says sexual violence was perpetrated against 279 girls and two boys last year — including rape, gang rape, forced marriage and sexual slavery. “The use of sexual violence as a modus operandi of armed groups is spiraling,” Ted Chaiban, UNICEF deputy executive director, told the council. "During my recent visits to the DRC, I met with adolescent girls who had run away with their siblings when their villages were attacked, and who now headed their households,” he said. Chaiban said it is especially worrying that the conflict is intensifying at the same time the large U.N. peacekeeping mission is beginning to leave the country, at the government’s request. "There is a very real risk that the humanitarian crisis in the DRC could soon become a catastrophe,” he said. It is not just children who are experiencing horrific abuse. Women are also subjected to staggering rates of sexual violence. In Goma, capital of North Kivu province, instances of sexual violence in the first half of 2024 were double the amount recorded over the same time last year, from 7,500 reported cases to 15,000, said Francois Moreillon, the International Committee of the Red Cross’s head of delegation in DRC. “Anyone with a gun feels that he can do whatever he wants,” he told reporters. Moreillon recounted how a woman that the ICRC had treated after being raped told caregivers that she and other women were taking condoms with them into the forest when they went to collect firewood — a prime time for women to be attacked. She said they hoped to persuade their potential rapists to wear them so they could prevent sexually transmitted diseases and lessen the anger of their husbands, who often leave women after finding out they have been raped. The Congo has one of the largest internal displacement crises in the world, with more than 7 million people affected.

London — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrived in his home country of Australia a free man Wednesday after agreeing to a plea deal with U.S. prosecutors over espionage charges, ending a 14-year legal odyssey. Supporters of the 52-year-old journalist and political activist welcomed his release, but said the prosecution sets a dangerous precedent for press freedom. Assange received an emotional welcome as he arrived at Canberra Airport by private jet Wednesday morning. He was embraced by his wife Stella, and his father, John Shipton, before punching the air as he was cheered by a group of supporters gathered nearby. "Julian wanted me to sincerely thank everyone. He wanted to be here, but you have to understand what he's been through. He needs time. He needs to recuperate," Stella Assange told reporters at a press conference in Australia's capital. She thanked his supporters around the world. "It took millions of people. It took people working behind the scenes. People protesting on the streets for days and weeks and months and years. And we achieved it," she said. Assange spends years in prison Assange spent more than five years in London's high-security Belmarsh Prison as he fought a legal battle over extradition to the United States. Britain's High Court finally ruled in May that he could appeal the extradition order. That decision prompted the U.S. Department of Justice, British and Australian authorities, and Assange's legal team to expedite negotiations on a deal in which Assange pleaded guilty to one charge of espionage. He was flown Monday evening from London to the U.S. Pacific territory of Saipan, where a brief hearing at a U.S. District Court on Tuesday concluded the prosecution. Assange was sentenced to the equivalent of the time he had already spent in prison and was free Wednesday morning. Defense criticizes US prosecutors Assange's lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, criticized U.S. prosecutors' pursuit of a conviction. "In order to win his freedom, Julian pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit espionage for publishing evidence of U.S. war crimes, human rights abuse and U.S. wrongdoing around the world. This is journalism. This is the criminalization of journalism," said Robinson. "And while the plea deal does not set a judicial precedent — it's not a court decision — the prosecution itself sets a precedent that can be used against the rest of the media," Robinson said at the press conference in Canberra on Wednesday. 'Democracy demands this' U.S. prosecutors charged Assange in 2019 with 17 counts of espionage and one count of hacking, relating to the publication of stolen diplomatic cables covering the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Wikileaks said the material revealed abuses by the U.S. military. Campaigners for press freedom say Assange was simply doing his job. "Essentially what he does is what all journalists want to do: expose incompetence, expose wrongdoing and hold the power to account. Because essentially, democracy demands this. I mean, without this, we wouldn't have democracy," said Abdullahi Tasiu Abubakar, a senior lecturer in journalism at City, University of London. US State Department defends US' action The U.S. Department of Justice has not yet commented on the plea deal. The State Department defended the United States' actions. "I do think it is important when we talk about Julian Assange to remind the world that the actions for which he was indicted and for which he has now pled guilty are actions that put the lives of our partners, our allies and our diplomats at risk, especially those who work in dangerous places like Afghanistan and Iraq," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Wednesday. "The documents they published gave identifying information of individuals who were in contact with the State Department that included opposition leaders, human rights activists around the world, whose positions were put in some danger because of their public disclosure," Miller added. "It also chilled the ability of American personnel to build relationships and have frank conversations with them." Australian PM lobbies for release Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who personally lobbied U.S. President Joe Biden to allow Assange's release, welcomed the plea deal. "Regardless of your views about his activities — and they will be varied — Mr. Assange's case has dragged on for too long. I have said repeatedly that there was nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration. "We have used all appropriate channels. This outcome has been the product of careful, patient and determined work, work I am very proud of," Albanese told lawmakers on Tuesday. Supporters say they'll seek pardon Assange spent seven years in self-imposed confinement in Ecuador's embassy in London from 2012, as he evaded unrelated rape charges filed by Swedish prosecutors, which were later dropped. Assange said he always believed the U.S. was seeking his extradition. He was arrested by British authorities for breach of bail after the Ecuadorian Embassy ejected him in 2019. Assange was held in Belmarsh Prison as he fought U.S. attempts to secure his extradition. Assange's supporters say they will seek a full pardon of his espionage conviction and have vowed to fight for the principle of press freedom.

Warsaw, Poland — Ukrainian officials are embracing what will be a detailed and tortuous process of negotiations following the official opening of EU accession talks this week, saying they have already made major strides toward qualifying for a status that would cement their place in Western Europe. While the process that began Tuesday at a ministerial-level meeting in Luxembourg can take years or even decades, the Kyiv government has declared its commitment to work diligently to meet the bloc’s exacting standards in areas ranging from agricultural policy to human rights. This process “is not something to which Ukraine has come unprepared,” said Ukrainian legislator Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, a former vice-prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, in an interview with VOA. She said the country has undergone significant transformation under an association agreement concluded with the EU in 2017, especially in the process of securing a visa-free regime. Ukraine was formally approved as a candidate for EU membership in June 2022, just months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country. Moldova, which was approved as an EU candidate at about the same time as Ukraine, also began accession talks on Tuesday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised Ukraine for its efforts to date in an address to the Ukrainian parliament in November 2023, saying that the country has “made great strides, much greater than anyone expected from a country at war.” Klympush-Tsintsadze emphasized the need for consolidated efforts from all sectors of society and political factions if Ukraine is to continue its progress toward EU membership. “It will be difficult without a real change in the civil service and public administration of Ukraine, without the engagement of all the possibilities of civil society, different political parties, and stakeholders, and having a very honest conversation with society about some of the very difficult steps,” she said. Those steps require Ukraine, like any membership candidate, to bring its laws and standards into line with those of the EU in 35 policy areas, known as chapters, ranging from the free movement of goods through fisheries, taxation, energy and the environment to judicial rights and security. Each of the chapters must be negotiated to the satisfaction of all 27 existing EU members, making for a complex and drawn-out process. Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Economy Tatiana Berezhna echoed her colleague's sentiments about Ukraine’s readiness for the long road ahead. She noted in an interview with VOA that Ukraine “has already managed to screen the implementation of European legislation.” Berezhna, who is responsible for negotiating the chapters on employment, social issues, and the free movement of workers, stated that since the application, Ukraine has done its homework and is now “ready to proceed with negotiations.” Already this year, Ukrainian officials have participated in several explanatory sessions with representatives of the European Commission. “Now that the negotiations have started, we will have a series of meetings on all the clusters of legislation,” Berezhna said. “We understand that it's a long process; however, we are eager to reunite with our European family.” Wojciech Przybylski, the head of a policy forecasting unit at the Warsaw-based think tank Visegrad Insight, compared the path ahead for Ukraine to that of Poland, which completed its EU membership negotiations in just five years. He pointed out that the negotiations for Ukraine's membership opened just before Hungary, which opposes Ukraine’s bid for admission and further EU enlargement generally, takes the helm of the EU for the next six months. “We know there will be a slowdown or a pause in the cycle, but this will come back as a topic under the Polish EU presidency in January,” said Przybylski, who believes the EU must be enlarged if it is to survive and thrive. “Fortunately, right now, there is a political momentum building up. We need to grow this political support and the network of those who will politically sponsor enlargement.” With Ukraine as ground zero in Europe’s biggest armed conflict since World War II,   Przybylski said he sees enlargement as “the peace project in Europe and the EU as an instrument of peacebuilding in Europe.” EU membership for Ukraine, he added, will be a key component of that process.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

In 2022, more than one in five Florida residents were immigrants. In that same year, immigrants in Florida were over 14% more likely than their U.S.-born neighbors to be of working age, positioning them to actively participate in the labor force and economy. And they did just that—immigrants contributed $12.0 billion in state and local […]

The post Immigrant Workers Help Florida Thrive. Anti-Immigrant Policies Threaten That. appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Tehran, Iran — Former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday threw his weight behind reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian, two days ahead of a snap presidential vote to replace the late Ebrahim Raisi. Rouhani, a moderate politician who preceded Raisi in office, said Pezeshkian — the only reformist on the ballot — could "remove the shadow of sanctions" that have battered the Iranian economy since the collapse of a landmark nuclear deal. "On Friday, we should vote for someone who is determined to remove the shadow of sanctions from the Iranian people," Rouhani said in a video message published by the reformist Shargh daily, praising Pezeshkian's "honesty" and "loyalty." The election was brought about by Raisi's death in a helicopter crash last month. Rouhani, whose government had negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal with the United States and other powers, said Pezeshkian appeared "determined to revive" the accord that fell through after Washington unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018, reimposing biting sanctions. Diplomatic efforts have since faltered to revive the deal, which aimed to curb Tehran's nuclear activity in return for sanctions relief. Pezeshkian, 69, is an outspoken heart surgeon who has represented the northwestern city of Tabriz in parliament since 2008. He is among the leading contenders in Iran's six-way presidential race along with conservative parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. Reformist figures, including former president Mohammad Khatami and ex-foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, have endorsed Pezeshkian's candidacy. On Tuesday, Khatami said the upcoming vote was "an opportunity" for "change," with Pezeshkian a "righteous, justice-seeking, anti-corruption and meritocratic" leader. Other candidates in the running include conservative Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani, Cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi and incumbent Vice President Amirhossein Ghazizadeh-Hashemi, the ultraconservative head of the Martyrs' Foundation.

LA PAZ, BOLIVIA — Bolivian armed forces took over the capital's central square Wednesday, and an armored vehicle rammed through the entrance to the presidential palace followed by soldiers, igniting fears of a military coup. Bolivian President Luis Arce denounced the "irregular mobilization" of some army units in La Paz and former leader Evo Morales accused a top general of plotting a coup. Heavily armed soldiers and armored vehicles were seen gathering in the central square, Plaza Murillo, while a Reuters witness saw an armored vehicle pushing into the presidential palace, which sits on the square, and soldiers rushing in. "The three chiefs of the armed forces have come to express our dismay. There will be a new cabinet of ministers, surely things will change, but our country cannot continue like this any longer," General Juan Jose Zuniga told a local TV station. Zuniga addressed reporters in the square prior to the assault on the national palace. "Stop destroying, stop impoverishing our country, stop humiliating our army," he said in full uniform, flanked by soldiers, insisting the action being taken was supported by the public. Morales, who has publicly split with Arce although both belong to the same socialist movement, said his supporters would mobilize in support of democracy. He accused Zuniga of seeking to stage a coup and announced a general work stoppage, including a call to block roadways. "We will not allow the armed forces to violate democracy and intimidate people," Morales said.